Steam-trap.



W. L. WILCOX & T. G. RAKESTRAW.

STEAM TRAP APPLiCATlON FILED 050.26. 1913.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- I 1 m m www IHE NORRIS PETERS 50., PHOTG-LITHO..WASHINGTON, D. C.

W. L. WILCOX & T. G. RAKESTRAW.

STEAM TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.26. 1913.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- THE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

W. L. WILCOX & T. G. RAKESTRAW.

STEAM TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.Z6,1913- 1 13? lflfl Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

3 $HEETS-SHEET 3.

Q Tu Y =55 N W M w THE NORRIS PETERS co, FHOTCFLITHOH WASHINGTON, n. c.

WILLIAM L. WILCOX AND THOMAS Gr. RAKESTRAW, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN,ASSIGrN OBS TO DUPLEX STEAM TRAP MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DETROIT,MICHIGAN.

STEAM-TRAP.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2'3, 1915.

Application filed December 26, 1913. Serial No. 808,810.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that we, WILLIAM L. WILooX and TrroMAs G. RAKESTRAVV,citizens of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne,State of Michigan, have inventeda certain new and useful Improvement 1nSteam-Traps, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in steam traps or water feedersfor boilers, shown in the accompanying drawings and more particularlypointed out in the following specification and claims.

One object of our invention is to provide a trap of the tilting typesimple in its construction and operation in which all counterpoise weihts and levers for controlling the action of the necessary valvesrequired to admit water and steam to the tank and to discharge waterfrom the tank into the.

boiler are dispensed with; together with all counterpoise weights andlevers heretofore required to support the tank in a position to receivethe water prior to its delivery to the boiler.

Another feature of the invention consists in the elemination of allcheck valves usually employed between the returns and the trap andbetween the trap and the boiler, the construction being such that onlytwo valves are required, one controlling the alternate admission ofwater to the respective tanks, the other controlling the alternateadmission of steam to each tank, each valve being automatically operatedupon the tilting of the tanks to provide for their alternate filling andemptying.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing a pair of twintanks connected together and supported on trunnions so as to operate asa single unit, the arrangement being such that water is delivered intoone tank while the other tank is discharging its contents into theboiler thereby insuring practically a continuous feed to the boiler.

Other advantages and improvements will hereafter appear.

In the drawings accompanying this specification z-Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the trap and a fragmentary portion of a boiler showing theconnection between the trap and boiler. Fig.2isaplan view of the trap.Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View through the trap and the valvecontrolling the delivery of water to and from the same ;-the arrowsindicating the delivery of the water to the elevated tank and thedischarge of water from the depressed tank. Fig. 4 is a detail crosssectional view of the water inlet valve tilted in the opposite directionto that indicated in the preceding figure ;the arrows indicating thepassage of water to and from the tanks, (not shown). Fig. 5 is alongitudinal sectional view through the device with parts broken awayand in elevation. Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of'a detailindicating the device employed to cushion the impact of the tank upontilting. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a detail of the pipe deliveringthe water to the boiler showing the means employed for holding the valvein a fixed relation to its rocking chamber whereby the delivery of waterto the respective tanks and to the boiler may be controlled.

Referring now to the letters of reference placed upon drawings :-Adenotes a boiler. B indicates the trap or boiler feeder located abovethe boiler in the usual manner.

C, C are tilting twin tanks supported at one end by the water pipes D, Dleading to a rocking valve chamber E. The valve chamber is provided witha projecting nipple E j ournaled in a bearing F, rising from thesupporting tray G. V

f is a gland engaging the bearing F to insure a water tight connectionbetween the nipple and bearing.

H denotes a water delivery pipe to convey the'feed water or condensationto the valve chamber E. One or more delivery pipes H may be connectedwith the bearing F, but when only one pipe is employed plugs 72. areprovided to close the additional openings. The rocking valve chamberE,see Fig. 4is constructed with passages e and 6 having ports 6 and aopening into its central chambered portion.

6 is a passage in the side wall of the valve chamber (see Fig. 5)extending from the hub supporting the nipple E, radially into thepassage 6 between the walls 0 and 0 separating the arc-shaped passages eand e.

I is a valve having a channel ll designed to connect the passage c withthe port 6 carried by the water pipe K leading to the .boiler..Projecting from the T fitting K is a nipple K surrounding the bar J andextending into the hub of the valve chamber '15 to convey the water tothe pipe K and to serve as a trunnion for the valve chamber to rock on.r I r K is a gland engaging the hub of the valve chamberproviding awater tight connection between the valve chamber and the nipple 1& Thebar J is rectangular in cross section and relatively narrow as indicated.in Figs. 4, and 7, to'provide a passage for the water through the Inipple K and through the connecting T fitting on each side ofthe bar.The bar J is screwed into the T fitting and squared at J to accommodatethe 'use of a wrench in assembling and adjusting the parts.

' J is a lock nut to secure the bar against accidental displacement whenso adjusted.

L, L are steam pipes extending upwardly into the twin tanks G and G,which they also assist in supporting ;the discharge or open end of thepipes being adjacent to the top. of its respective tank that the steammay. be delivered above the water level therein. V

M is a rocking steam valve chamber with which. the pipes L and Lconnect, being similar in construction and operation to V the rockingwater valve chamber E.

N is. a steam valve secured to the fixed bar N, in turn engaged to the TO, on the exhaust pipe 0.

v Pis a nipple projecting from the T into the hub of the steam valvecasing through which the bar N projects, the nipple serving as atrunnion for the valve casing.

Q is a nipple projecting from the opposite hub vof'the valve casing intothe bearing F.

ltdenotes a pipe to conduct steam from the boiler to the valve chamber.

As. previously indicated the construction of the valve controlling theadmission of the steam-to the respective tanks and its severalconnections and manner of operatlon,

are similar to the water valve and its connect ons and manner ofoperation, therefore a detailed description of the steam valve and itscoacting parts will be unnecessary to a full understanding-of theiroperation.

On each side of the tray are wells S, S

connected together by a pipe S under control:of' a. valve 8?. Housed ineach well is a plunger 'If-having a projecting stem T the.

end of which maybe filled with a pad of, leather or other cushion toreceive the'impact .of the descendingtank.

T is an annular cap to secure the plunger against accidentaldislodgment, through which the stem T of the plunger projects.

Having indicated the several parts by reference letters the constructionand operation of the apparatus will be readily understood.

The trap being mounted above the boiler so that the water delivered toit may pass by gravity into the boiler is connected by the pipe H withthe returns from the heating system or feed water supply. Water passingthrough the pipe H enters the valve chamber through the nipple E, thenceup throughthe passage 0 in the side of the valve chamber, thence throughthe passage 6 by way of the channel I in the valve I, through the port 6(see Fig. 8) through the passage 6, thence through the pipe D into theelevated tank C. Vhen a suflicient volume of water has entered the tankC to overcome the weight of the tank G, the tanks tilt on theirsupporting trunnions which action cuts off the delivery ofwater to thetank C formerly occupying an elevated position, the water beingdelivered instead to the now elevated tank C as will be hereafter morefully explained.

Attention is now directed to the rocking steam valve chamber M throughwhich steam may pass from the boiler to the respective tilting tanks.

As before stated the construction of the steam valve and the co-actingparts are similar to the valve controlling the delivery of water to thetanks, therefore upon the tank C tilting under the Weight of the columnof water contained therein, steam passing through the pipe R isdelivered through the valve chamber M by the valve N into the pipe D'andthence into the tank C above the Water level therein establishing boilerpressure within the tank and thereby permitting the water to pass bygravity out through the pipe D into the passage 6 in the rocking valvechamber, through the port 6 thence out through the nipple K, through theT K, down through the pipe K, to the boiler. It will be borne in mindthat while the tank C is discharg ing its contents into the boiler, thetank C is being filled 'by the returns from the heating system, or othersource of supply. lhe alternate delivery of water to the respectivetanks by the valve controlling same will bereadily understood uponcomparing the position of the valve chamber E as indicated in Fig. 3,with the position of the same valve chamber as shown in Fig. 4, itbeingapparent that water delivered to the valve when occupying the lastposition will then pass into the tank C, instead of the tank C, asformerly. As soon as the weight of water in the tank C overcomes theweight of the tank 6, the tanks will tilt back to their former position,thereby reversing the water and steam control valves. Steam will now bedelivered to the tank C establishing boiler pressure within andpermitting the water therein to pass to the boiler as previouslydescribed,while any steam remaining in the now elevated tank 0 will bereleased by the steam valve into the exhaust pipe 0 to pass thence intothe open air or to a sewer or other connection,- the object being tofree the tank of any pressure that might have a tendency to retard itsrefilling. The jar that may otherwise result from the tilting of thetanks is absorbed when the tank strikes the stem of the plunger T housedin the oil well S- which action forces the fluid out through the pipe Sinto the opposite well S, the speed with which the fluid may passthrough the pipe S and the cushioning efiect resulting therefrom beingcontrolled by the valve S By constructing the trap with tanks arrangedhorizontally the device may be located in situations where there isrelatively very little space between the top of the boiler and theceiling of the boiler room.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim is 1. In an apparatussuch as described, a base, a rocking valve chamber mounted upon saidbase, said valve chamber having a passage in the upper portion thereof,and extending substantially one half the circumference of said valvechamber, spaced partitions extending from the outer wall of the passagethrough the passage, the inner wall of said passage having an openingformed therein and extending beyond the outer sides of the spacedpartitions, said spaced partitions dividing the passage into separatedpassages, the said extension of the opening beyond the outer sides ofthe partitions forming ports at the inner ends of said separatedpassages, said spaced partitions having a passage therebetween, a valvedisposed in said valve chamber for connecting the passage locatedbetween the spaced partitions with one of the separated passages, whilepermitting communication between the other of the separated passages andthe lnterior of the chamber, and a pair of tanks supported by the valvechamber and in communication with the separated passages.

52. In an apparatus such as described, a base, a rocking valve chambermounted upon said base, said valve chamber having a passage formed inthe upper portion, the inner Wall of sa1d passage having an openingtherein and provlding communication between the passage and the interiorof the chamber, transverse partitions extending through said passage andinto the opening provided in the lnner wall of the passage, and dividingsa1d passage into separated passages, the extension of the openingbeyond the outer sldes of the partitions forming ports at the inner endsof said separated passages, said transverse partitions being spacedapart provldmg a passage therebetween, a valve disposed within the valvechamber, said valve having a channel formed in its outer side, saidchannel adapted to connect the passage between the transverse partitionswith one of the separated passages, said valve upon movement in oppositedirections permitting communication between one of the separatedpassages and the interior of the valve chamber, and a pair of tankssupported by the rocking valve chamber and bemg in communication withseparated passages.

In testimony whereof, we sign this specification in the presence of twoWitnesses.

WILLIAM L. WILCOX. THOMAS G. RAKESTRAW. Witnesses:

SAMUEL E. THOMAS, CHRISTINE MALETIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

